Pro-Abortion activists are putting up a fight in Oklahoma against what may become some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation. The new Oklahoma abortion laws, challenged in state court, would become effective November 1st if they aren’t struck down before that time. The two laws, one which requires women who are seeking an abortion to answer a lengthy questionnaire about their personal history and the reasons they are seeking an abortion and the other which requires patients to listen to a doctor talk them through an ultrasound, are being challenged in Oklahoma state courts.
Read more about the new Oklahoma Abortion Laws and see a news report about this issue below.
You can read more about this story here, here and here. It appears that the basis of the challenge from the Pro-Abortion activists are challenging the laws on the basis that they are unconstitutional because they were rolled into other bills when they were voted upon.
Activists also claim:
“Nobody undertakes this kind of decision lightly to begin with,” said Anita Fream, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma. “To turn around and, once you’ve made this decision, find out the legislators have imposed these additional restrictions, it’s really quite problematic. It often makes a difficult decision even more painful.”
My response to this line of reasoning is that it should be a difficult decision. It appears that the Abortion rights activists are simply trying to sanitize and remove any connection between the mother and the child that was conceived so that it becomes easier to stomach a very destructive and vile procedure. I do not know how anyone can argue that terminating a pregnancy is not taking a life. I understand that there are raw emotions on both sides of this issue, and reasonable minds will disagree on this issue, but I will never be able to understand how people are able to argue that abortion should be allowed.
In talking about reporting requirements that are part of the new laws, a former state representative and current plaintiff in one of the lawsuits, stated the following:
“It is particularly Draconian, abusive, intimidating,” said former Democratic state Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton, a plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the reporting requirements. “Those are totally intimidating, totally personal questions, and it’s nobody’s business.”
How is ending a life nobody’s business? It’s nobody’s business whether or not a mother decides to terminate the life of the child growing inside her? Does that mean that it’s nobody’s business if I drive drunk, or if abuse my children? Of course not. Why do I always hear this argument that “it’s my body, so I’ll do with it as I choose.” Didn’t you lose that right when you decided to get pregnant? We lose rights all the time in this country as a consequence of our actions. Felons lose their right to vote. If a protective order is issued against you then you surrender your right to own and possess firearms. How is having unprotected sex and getting pregnant any different? I understand, and fully agree, that exceptions should be made in cases of rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is in danger, but just your basic run of the mill abortions should be able to be regulated by the states.
I love the statement made by the senator that it is not being challenged on the merits, but rather on a technicality of the single subject rule. Right now the new Oklahoma abortion laws are being challenged in state court and it appears that this is going to be a battle that will eventually make its way to the United States Supreme Court. Its interesting to hear how the host from CNN goes after the Senator, and how she is unabashedly supporting the attorney from the Center for Reproductive Rights, and I thought it was only Fox News that was biased.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I am in total agreement Ryan.
October 26th, 2009 at 8:08 am
To be fair, I propose:
Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act II, also known as: “What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander,” to require the following information to be collected about the FATHER of the unborn child and posted on a public website:
1. Date of abortion.
2. County in which abortion performed.
3. Age of father and difference from age of mother.
4. Marital status of father (married, divorced, separated, widowed, or never married). If married, is he married to the mother of the child or to another woman?
5. Race of father. Same or different than mother?
6. Occupation of father (specify employer and yearly income). If an elected official, list position and voter precinct.
7. Residence of father (country, state, county). Same or different household than mother?
8. Total number of previous pregnancies fathered and the number of different women involved.
In addition, in an effort to influence the mother’s decision about the abortion, all fathers will be required to offer to contribute $10,000/year for 18 years toward the cost of raising the child.
I am sure that this information would be much more useful in devising policies to reduce abortions than the proposed information to be collected from the mother!
December 15th, 2009 at 7:42 am
Zaylyn – You are 100% right. Only by holding not just the mothers but also the fathers of these children, responsible and accountable for their action will we ever see a change in behavior that results in the reduction of not just the number of abortions and children born out of wed lock but also the number of pregnancies outside of wedlock and/or otherwise unplanned and unwanted.